You may have heard about robots working shoulder to shoulder with their human counterparts without all the safety fencing and screens.(so called cage-free robots). But becoming "friendlier" with a production robot requires that the co-worker can easily interface with the robot to help production move along more smoothly. But not just anybody can program a robot, right?
Forbes.com asks the question: Are Robots The Next Big App Platform? Forbes describes how the Baxter Research Robot by Rethink Robotics can be accessed through open sourcing using an SDK. This open access encourages users to get creative with the robot.
At the same time, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) has entered the first phase of its robot challenge where 26 teams from 8 countries compete for a \\\$2 million dollar prize. The first part of the challenge is to access an open sourced simulation system and program an Atlas robot (Boston Dynamics) to perform specific tasks in a virtual arena. The second part is to program the real Atlas robot and compete in the real-world arena.
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?itc=eetimes%5Fsitedefault&doc_id=1318779
Now let me ask you this: Is Simulation the next big App Platform?
